


Tale of Two Spiders

by MarilynnRae



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Irondad, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Is a Good Bro, Tony Needs a Hug, Young Love, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-03-17 17:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18969868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarilynnRae/pseuds/MarilynnRae
Summary: Tony Stark knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but hasn't figured out who Spider-Woman is yet. At the moment he has a little too much on his plate with Captain America going rogue to realize it's his very own daughter.Don't worry. The first few chapter Tony may seem like a bad dad but he improves, I promise.





	1. Chapter 1

Peter’s entire body shook as he watched Tony Stark leave his apartment. May was practically bouncing with excitement over this “grant” while he was frozen. His hands were trembling as he offered her the best smile he could muster and excused himself to his room with promises of needing to call Ned.

Well, he needed to call someone just definitely not Ned.

In the bottom drawer of his desk was a overly well designed phone that she had called a burner. When he thought of a burner phone, he always thought of those flip phones on crime shows that drug dealers used or some spy used then threw away. But he was pretty certain this was a Stark Phone without the logo branded on the back. 

The number he dialed was drilled into his head by now. He called it almost everyday and she had told him not to bother to put contacts in this phone. It didn’t store any ingoing or outgoing data but it could do about anything Peter needed it to do. 

“Hey friend,” her voice was soft, but tired. With everything going on in the news he figured it she was probably pretty stressed at the moment. “Please tell me you want to get out tonight, because I need out of here. I’m suffocating.”

Peter sat down on his bed and rubbed his sweaty palms against of his jeans. “Uh, Addie?”

The line got quiet, very quiet. She was always very good at reading his tone. “Yes?” She didn’t say his name, clearly- probably- in the tower. It was always infuriatingly clear that she was more careful than he was, better at keeping their secret. Which was why he was the one that got caught. 

Taking a deep breath, he fell back on the bed. “Your dad knows I’m Spider-Man, but you’re in the clear.”

He could almost hear her processing that information as he stared at the boards holding up the mattress above him. Oh God, she’s going to hate him. He really didn’t want her to hate him. She was really pretty awesome and kind of the coolest person he had ever met and he really, really didn’t want her to hate him now. 

“Okay,” she stated finally. “Let’s meet.”

An hour later, Addison Stark was sitting next to him on top the building across from Delmar’s Deli eating a sandwich with her ankles crossed as they dangled over the ally below. Her mask was only pulled up to her mouth, deciding it was best not to risk Tony Stark following Peter to try and discover who Spider-Woman was too. 

“So, let me get this straight,” she said with her mouth half full of food. Her white gloved hand swiped across her lip before she continued. “Dad wants you to go to Germany and bring your ‘girlfriend’?”

Peter was incredibly glad he had chosen to keep his mask on too because his cheeks burned red. Addie wasn’t his girlfriend. Sure, girl friend, but definitely not girlfriend. She was way out of his league and he knew that. She was probably the smartest and most beautiful girl he had ever met. Not to mention she was literally Tony Stark’s daughter. 

“Yeah,” he coughed awkwardly into his hand, “that’s, uh, that’s what he said.”

She crumpled the sandwich paper and stuffed it in Peter’s backpack like they usually do. “Well, this should be fun. Looks like I’m going to need a voice modulator and you,” she tugged down her mask and pinched him in the side playfully, “are going to have to do some training if you don’t want to get your ass kicked.”

He blinked at her. “Umm, what?”

So much of him wanted to see her face, but he couldn’t. Before he knew what to do, she was jumping to her feet, pulling him up with her. As always, she was graceful. It seemed odd that they had met less than a year ago when she always acted so comfortable around him, bouncing in and out of his space like it was nothing. Of course, their crashed into each other in Oscorp, him on a field trip while Harry Osborn was attempting to woo her with her father’s genetic radioactive experiments, sort of set the bar. 

They met the day they got their powers both while sneaking away to find something more interesting. Part of him wondered what would have happened in that moment she had smiled at him, fixing the collar of his shirt. He wasn’t good at this stuff, but he was fairly certain she may have been about to kiss him when she reared back with a tiny speck of blood on her hand. Moments after that, Harry had found them and they parted their ways. Not before she slid her number in his pocket.

They hadn’t been close like that since that moment though. He was bit on the bus home from school later and Addie, being the genius that she was, quickly put together they both had they gained the same abilities within a few days of speaking. 

Addie moved around him, kicking at his feet to sturdy his stance, squaring his shoulders and hips with her hands (he promised himself he was not going to blush as she pushed the front of his hips back).

“You are fast and strong, but you depend on that too much,” she stated. “While that’s fine with street thugs, you’re not going to be fighting street thugs this time around.”

He blinked at her but listened and brought his fists up like he was going to fight. He could see he shake her head slightly as she let out a light laugh. “Listen, Spidey, I’ve never seen you stand like that when you’re about to fight and I don’t suggest you start now.”

He slumped slightly discouraged and she laughed again. “I’m not completely retraining you. We don’t have time. I’ve just got enough time to teach you to put some extra power behind your hits.”

Oh, that sounded like a good idea. She showed him the punches she claimed Black Widow had taught her years ago. The proper way to hold his fist, the way to follow through with his whole body. It felt more powerful. He couldn’t help but grin the way she bounced back and forth on her toes at her excitement and approval. 

Gosh she was cute. Especially when she was excited. Darn it, Peter. Get it together. They went through a few more moves, but her combat skills were far more advanced than his. That was to be expected when she trained with actual Avengers. What had gone from learning self defense from Natasha as a few years ago had turned into combat training. More times than Peter cared to admit, it had saved his butt.

Unfortunately, he didn’t much get the hang of things as hours passed. Before he realized it was nearly midnight. Which would have been bad if May even knew he left his room. Instead he just sighed and plopped back down on the roof top as Addie pulled her own modified Stark Phone out of her suit along with a piece of tinfoil. 

“Did you bring any electronics with you?” she asked, holding out the tinfoil for him. 

He blinked at her for several moments and put his phone in the foil and watched as she folded it. A few taps later she pulled the mask off, smiled and handed the foil back to him. “I just a small EMP of the area to kill any remote electronics in case Dad has the free time to track us.” 

Brilliant. That would have never crossed his mind to do. Which was probably why his cover was blown, a random kid from queens, and Spider-Woman was living under Tony Starks nose. Peter pulled up his own mask, his face red from their sparing and definitely not from her genius abilities impressing him all the time. 

“I have to get going,” she told him, her eyes glanced down looking clearly a little sad at leaving him now. “FRIDAY tells Pepper if I’m out passed midnight during the week.” Hazel eyes sparkled back up at him. “That’s with the fact I finally managed to bribe an AI. Maybe I really am a Stark after all.”

Something in her voice sounded sad that kept him from laughing. Instead he reached out and gave her hand a light squeeze. It was clear the contact surprised her by the way she looked up at him, then back down at their joined hands. It seemed like she was studying this moment like some sort of human interaction she hadn’t been a part of before. 

But the heaviness gave way and a true smile came across her face. Her hand in Peter’s returned his grasp as she met his eyes more clearly this time, looking into them. Then she leaned in and his heart started to race. The smile on her face only widened and he knew she could hear it too, damn their heightened sense. Still, she kept leaning, her face inching closer to his until her mouth touched the corner of his lips. 

“See you tomorrow, Peter Parker.”

Then she was gone, swinging toward the Avenger Tower. 

/0/0/0/

Addie phone buzzed as she slung her bag over her shoulder. 

DAD: Long week kiddo, miss you. Be good for Pep.

She rolled her eyes and stuffed her phone back in her pocket. Yeah, it seemed since Pepper had left him, he had buried himself in projects and left her to raise herself. At least Pepper was still parenting, she supposed. However well she could parent as she bounced between coasts doing most of the work of CEO of Stark Industries despite Tony sharing the title. 

It stung. A lot. It seemed that being a father for Tony Stark acted like a switch. While that was father better than Howard, it still wasn’t quite enough. Then again, it was also more than a lot of kids of billionaires had. Her mind drifted to Harry Osborn who never got anything but negative attention from his father. At least she just had to wait for her father to come out of his ruts, even if this current one was lasting almost a year. 

She was standing underneath an overpass just a block away from the airport Peter said they were meeting at. In Germany. While he flew with Happy, she spent part of her evening creating a new passport with her dad’s tech that he would kill her for touching, especially at their current point with shake checks and balances. 

Still, she made it. No one the wiser that Addison Stark was not attending her online AP courses but in a completely different country, about to have a showdown between the Avengers. 

“There you are!” Peter hissed popping out of nowhere, startling her slightly. Clearly her spider senses saw him as absolutely no threat. As she spun around, she let out a low whistle at the sight of him in a shiny new suit. 

“Holy shit. Did Dad make that?” she whispered, glancing around out of habit before looking him over and feeling all over the material. It was a rhetorical question because there was no way Peter had made it and it had Stark tech written all over it. Plus, the flashy blue and red had Tony’s flare. 

“Yeah,” Peter answered anyway and reached into his own backpack. “And this is for you.”

A primarily white suit flew toward her and she could have danced for joy. While her suit was far superior than Peter’s pajamas, she knew any suit her father put together was going to definitely put hers to shame. Without a second thought she began to strip, ignoring the reactive eyes of Peter’s masks widening before he quickly spun around to give her a bit of privacy. Not that she cared. She was in a sports bra and underwear, a bikini showed more. 

Slipping on the suit, she loved the way it suddenly formed around her body. White being the primary color with some red and blue to match Peter’s better and with a cowl, as she always wore a hood. Pulling on the mask she blinked a few times, pleased the it also dialed down her over hyped sensed but she couldn’t help but notice it was digitalized. Her dad probably had programed this with more tech than they had access to right away. She made a mental note to look into that later. 

Pulling down the collar just a bit, she stuck a small metal device against her throat and gave Peter a smile. “Ready to go kick some super hero ass?” she asked, her voice still clearly feminine but now digitalized beyond recognition.

They tapped knuckles and headed to their positions, dropping their bags behind a dumpster on the way.

Addie watched as her father landed in front of Cap. Even from where she was positioned, she could see he was sporting a hell of a blackeye that she had no idea where it came from. Did Cap do that to him? Her stomach tightened at the thought as she watched the tension between the two of them thicken. She didn’t care what they were saying, she was beginning to realize this was probably not going to be a “web them down” situation after all. 

She moved closer to Peter. “When this goes south-“

Peter blinked at her. “What do you mean when?”

She ignored him. “When it does, focus Falcon and Cap. Don’t go near, Clint. Focus Cap’s legs and go for Falcon’s wings.”

There was another blink but he nodded and focused his attention back on Iron Man, War Machine, and Captain America all standing in front of him. She had a feeling if he wasn’t so nervous, he would be fan boying all over the place. 

“Underroos!” Tony called, cueing them. Immediately Peter took off, webbing Cap’s shield out of his hands while Addie webbed his hands together. They landed in sync together, Natasha eyeing them closely. 

Well, at least Natasha was on their side. Addie really didn’t want to fight her pseudo big sister. 

“Nice job, kids,” Tony offered, barely sparing them a glance

“Thanks,” Peter replied, eating up the compliment. It took all she had to not roll her eyes. “Well, I could have stuck the landing a little better, new suit-It’s not th-it’s per- Ow!”

Addie punched him in the arm as Tony waved a hand at him to get him to stop talking. A small smile came over Tony’s face at her. “Thanks, uh, other kid.” He gave Peter a humoring look. “We don’t really need to start a conversation.”

Peter’s head nodded like a bobble head making Addie want to hide her face in her hands. “Yeah. Okay,” he agreed readily before turning to Cap and offering a salute. “Cap, Captain. Big fan. Uh, Spider-Man.” He motioned toward himself.

This time Addie shoved him off vehicle they were both on. “You are so embarrassing!” she hissed. The sound of Natasha’s snort had Addie’s face burning. First time actually fighting along side her role motel and she was laughing at her. Awesome, great, just what she wanted today. 

Before Addie had time to think, Cap’s hands went up and the webbing was shot through and Peter’s body was thrown against the vehicle with enough force to nearly knock her off if it wasn’t for the fact she was able to stick to things. Her focus was back on, her eyes dead on Cap as a man in a suit she had never seen before handed Cap’s shield back to him and there was an irritatingly smug look on his face. 

Tony and Rhodey flew in different directions as Peter asked for directions. It was her first time seeing the prince of Wakanda but she was sure he could take care of himself. She had a feeling if there was a place she was needed it was with where ever Clint and Wanda were. 

That’s where her dad was headed. 

Without a thought, she took off. Her speed almost matching his, but they didn’t know she was there. When they stopped, she stopped, ducking behind a car to keep herself hidden. 

“Played eighteen, shot eighteen. Couldn’t seem to miss.” Clint pulled his bow and shot but Tony easily blasted every arrow. 

She could almost hear her father smirk. “First time for everything.”

The tingling in the back of her neck blared as she looked up to see the red mist of Wanda’s magic pulling cars out of the garage toward her father. Of all the Avengers she had spared with, never had she spared with Wanda. Wanda herself had always been afraid she may hurt Addie, but this was not sparing. This was real. And this was not Wanda and Addie. This was Scarlet Witch and Spider-Woman. 

Without a thought she jumped out, tackling Wanda to the ground, webbing her hands down first. The tingle screamed again as she flipped back, narrowly avoiding Clint grabbing her by the cowl. She wanted to look back to make sure her dad made it out, but she couldn’t risk taking her eyes off of Clint. Or even really Wanda. She wasn’t really sure the depths of Wanda’s power and couldn’t be sure a few webs could keep her magic at bay. 

Before she could get fully clear of him, he caught her by the wrist. His knee went straight into her sternum before he tossed her straight onto her back on the concrete. She gasped for air but got back to her feet glaring at him. The wind got knocked out of her, but she had worse. Hell, she had worse from him before.

“Aren’t you kinda short to be a super hero?” Clint deadpanned, drawing his bow as he eyes her. It was clear that he was trying to scare her. Trying to send whatever kid Tony had picked up to fight his battles home. 

“Aren’t you a little old to be playing Robin Hood?” Addie shot back. There was something on Clint’s face that was shock before realization. His bow string loosened as he looked her over. 

A slight panic rose in her as her hand absently felt for the modulator on her neck. Yeah, it was still there and attached. Why was he looking at her like that?

“Go home, kid. This isn’t your fight.” He put his bow on his back and kneeled down to tear the webs off of Wanda’s hands. 

She raised her arm to shoot a web at him but Wanda was faster. Red mist flew up and circled her throat, lifting her off the ground. Her ears rung and her sense screamed as her hands claw as her throat with nothing physical to free herself from. Spots start to cloud her vision as she saw Clint clearly trying to talk Wanda down as she stared holes into Addie’s face, her eyes glowing the same red as her magic. Finally, whatever Clint was saying must have gotten through to her because she closes her eyes and Addie hits the ground. Her whole body landing in a heap as she gasps for air. 

Coughs and gasps escape her body as she tries to sit herself up. A hand landed on her back and she panicked. Adrenaline and fear pulsate through her as she flipped the entire iron man suit over her body and nearly lands a punch to an open masked Tony Stark before she caught herself. 

“Whoa-whoa-whoa!” he yelled, holding his hands up to protect himself. “Same side, same side!”

Another breath escaped her as she fell back down her butt. “Sorry,” she gasped. “Probably don’t come up behind someone in a battle zone.”

Tony stood up and dusted his armor off before offering her his hand to stand up. “Thanks for the help, by the way. Nice work.”

A warm blush came over her cheeks as she smiled, but said nothing. At least someone was getting some recognition from her father. Even if it was Spider-Woman, not Addie.

Before she could say anything they both watched as Peter flew threw the glass of the parking garage and bounced off of a trailer. Addie sighed and swung toward him, smiling lightly as she always did when it came to Peter and his antics. He always managed to keep things interesting.

/0/0/0/

11:52 PM.

Eight minutes to spare. 

Peter shifted back and forth on his toes as the elevator continued to climb to the top floor. With no one in town and her ability to sweet talk FRIDAY, she wasn’t worried about having Peter sleep in the guest room for a night. She helped him come up with a lie that May needed him home that night (that he executed terribly) so they could sit up and play some videogames. 

It was selfish, but she needed company. Between seeing Uncle Rhodey fall from the sky and having a literal all out brawl with half of the people she considered family, she didn’t want to be alone. Peter was the closest friend she had. 

“You sure this is okay? You’re dad’s not going to find out or something?”

“Eh,” she said noncommittedly. Honestly, tonight she didn’t care and had a feeling her father wasn’t going to be checking the security cameras anytime soon even if she didn’t wipe the feed. 

Alarm flashed through his features but he didn’t say anything. 

The elevator dinged and she stepped out, dropping her duffle bag on the floor and kicking it to the side without thought. 

“Welcome to our not super humble abode.” Addie spread her arms and did a little twirl as she gestured to the penthouse. She had been inside Peter’s apartment a handful of times while May wasn’t home and knew a dozen of their apartments could fit inside their pent house. Their apartment floor could fit inside their penthouse. 

The look on Peter’s face said it all. He was in complete and totally awe. “This place is amazing.”

She smirked as she pulled the tie out of the bottom of her braid and shook her hair out. “It’s alright. If you wanted to see something really impressive you should have seen the house in Malibu. That was something before it got blasted to hell. The compound upstate is pretty cool too.”

She glanced back around to see him too busy gawking at everything, so she decided to really blow his mind. 

“Hey, FRIDAY, would you mind to not mention to my father that Peter was ever here unless explicitly and directly asked?”

Addie’s eyes watched Peter as the AI all but sighed. “Yes, Addie. Though I wish you would stop making such requests.”

Peter’s jaw dropped as he whipped around and stared at her, arms out in either direction. “Holy crap. Is this- is that- an AI?”

She just grinned and moved over to the couch flipping up a holographic screen and typing something before a screen slid out from inside the wall to reveal perhaps the largest screen Peter had ever seen outside a theatre. Certainly, bigger than anything he had ever seen in a store. 

“Hungry?” she asked as the Star Wars theme began to play. 

Like a moth to a flame, Peter moved toward the couch as he nodded blandly at her question. The answer was always hungry due to their metabolism. It was endearing. 

Addie pulled two frozen pizzas out of the freezer but just as she was about to start the oven her ears perked at the sound of the elevator doors opening. Peter and her exchanged glances as Pepper Potts stormed through the doors.

“Addison Quinn Stark, where in the hell have you been?” she snapped.

Peter slipped deeper into the couch trying not to be seen as Addie looked up at the ceiling. “A little warning, FRIDAY? What happened to announcing when people were coming?”

“I’m sorry, Addie. I assumed you would explicitly and directly ask,” returned the AI. 

At that Addie licked her teeth and pursed her lips. What did she expect? Her father did program the damn AI in the first place. Of course, she was going to be a snarky shit sometimes. 

However, Pepper was having none of it. “Hey.” She snapped her fingers to regain Addie’s attention. “I asked you a question. Where the hell have you been?” The typical business suit Pepper wore was replaced with jeans and a fitted t-shirt and sweater. So, maybe she hadn’t been at work that day. If she had in fact been in New York all day Addie may have been more screwed than she realized. 

With a quick glance she noticed Peter was doing his best to sneak out of the room without being noticed. 

“So, uh, how long have you been here?” Addie asked, continuing preheating the oven evading Pepper’s question with the grace and skill of her father. Which, honestly, wasn’t a whole lot and only ever made things worse, but hell. It bought time for her to think. 

The face Pepper gave her was one that she had only ever seen Pepper give her father when she was really, truly pissed. Even trying to act casual under that glare was making Addie sweat. 

Taking a deep breath, Pepper’s face morphed into a false calm as she stared down the child she had raised since she was a toddler. Her steps were like a predator toward prey as she moved closer. 

“You promised you would be responsible if you stayed here,” Pepper stated though controlled breathing. “You promised me you would check in, answer my calls, and I trusted you to keep your word! But no. Weeks of one text message or a brief phone call and with everything going on with your dad, I stop by and FRIDAY tells me you booked a flight to Germany?”

At that Addie wanted to bang her head on the counter. Of course, she didn’t think to tell her not to mention that to anyone. Her dad wouldn’t be checking in on her since he was busy and the only time Pepper checked in with FRIDAY was, well, when she was in town. 

“I, uh, thought a field trip would be nice?” Addie offered through a grimace. It was a terrible lie, but she knew where this was headed and she was suddenly terrified. 

Pepper’s expression barely changed, still hard and cold. Clearly deciding if Addie was going to act like her father, Pepper would treat her like her father. “It had nothing to do with your dad and the other Avengers being there?”

Addie stopped fiddling with the pizzas and turned around to face her mother. Her bravery and stubbornness were failing her, instead fear and anger were rising in her throat. “Why are you here?” The question was quiet, the fact Peter was within ear shot and about to hear all her family drama no longer mattered to her. Her eyes hardened as she gritted her teeth. “Huh? Why are you here? I thought you weren’t apart of this family anymore. Isn’t that why you left? You couldn’t stand our Stark behavior anymore?”

Everything in the room froze. She had a feeling even FRIDAY was struck for a moment as Pepper took a physical step back. It was a low blow but Addie felt cornered. If Pepper kept asking questions, she was going to hit too close to the truth. Her secret identity wouldn’t be so secret anymore. 

But Pepper was smart and not one to be manipulated to easily. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. “You know, you know, I never left you. What happens between your father and I is between he and I and has nothing to do with you.” She moved around the counter to Addie. “But your behavior is inexcusable. Do you understand me?”

A few tears pricked at Addie’s eyes and she nodded. “I’m sorry. I promise to be better.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Yes, because you’re grounded.” Yeah, she saw that coming. “And I’ll be working mostly from here until I’ve decided you can be trusted.” But the anger had washed out of both of them as Pepper pulled Addie into a hug and let out a deep sigh. “You just have so much of your father in you that I swear you two are going to drive me into an early grave.”

Addie tried to laugh but she couldn’t. All the times she had seen Pepper brought to tears because of the stress her father brought them from nearly dying and saving the world. That had been his choice. She was different. She had these gifts and these abilities. If she didn’t use them to help people then that would just… that would make her a bad person.

She took one last inhale of Pepper’s lavender scent and squeezed her eyes shut as she built up courage execute her final ploy to save her ass. “I, uh, I need to tell you one more thing, but I also need you to not tell Dad…”

Pepper’s chest rose and fell with a hard breath as she tucked a strand of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. “Alright, fine. Let’s have it.”

With a deep breath Addie moved in the direction she had seen Peter move in. “So I’ve been a little distracted lately, and it’s really nothing huge but I uh-“ she grabbed Peter’s hand and tugged him into the open. “-would like you to meet my boyfriend. Pepper, this is Peter Parker.”

Honestly, she wasn’t sure which one looked more surprised.


	2. Reunions and Reassurances

Everything hurt. Every single part of him. Physically, emotionally, mentally he was in pain. T’Chala had been kind enough to give him an escort back to New York where Happy dumped him off at the tower. After seeing his parents’ deaths he needed to be closer to Addie especially since he hadn’t seen her in nearly two weeks. 

God, he had been a shit father lately. 

As much as he hated going to bed dirty, he had no energy to shower. Aside from dozing a few hours here and here and literally passing out on the flight home, he wasn’t sure how much he had slept in the last week. Definitely not enough. 

The moment he made it to the pent house he started to strip to down his none essentials. His watch went first, peeking at the time as he removed it and noticing it wasn’t nearly as late as he thought it was. Only two AM, but he knew Addie was long asleep by the fact there were no lights on when he arrived. 

He kicked his shoes off next, groaning as he leaned down and picked them up. This getting his ass kicked thing never got easier. The days of popping pills was behind him was long behind him. Now he rarely took more than ibuprofen and Tylenol. 

Tonight, may be a night he checks to see if he has any leftover oxycodone from his last brush with death. No, he couldn’t do that. It was important for him to stay clean and his addictive personality liked the feeling of being high a little too much.

Sliding his bedroom door open, he dropped his shoes unceremoniously and fell face first on to the bed.

And onto a boney body.

A sharp gasp had him sitting up but not quick enough as a head collided with his making him and the other person groan. The room was lit just enough for him to catch flickers for red hair.

“Pepper?” 

“Tony?”

They both clutched their heads as they stared at each other in clear confusion. Pepper’s got ahold of herself quicker than he did as she released her own head to cup his bruised and beaten face. “God, Tony, what happened to you?”

Her small hands moved so gently over his cuts and bruises. It seemed impossible, but her gentleness seemed to ease some of his pain. 

“I had a disagreement with the world’s oldest otterpop,” he deadpanned, attempting to smile but it came out as more of a grimace. 

Pepper’s eyes widened in horror as she continued to take in his injuries. “Steve did this to you?”

As much as Tony wanted to have another witty comeback, the way her hands were gently holding him, her eyes concerned, them sitting together in the bed they bought together. It all was too much. 

A knot was building in his throat as his forced himself to look away from her, begging himself to look away. It had been too long since he had seen her, and seeing her now felt like he was too close to either fixing them or making her leave forever. 

“My parents didn’t die in a car accident, Pep.” His voice cracked as he stared at the headboard directly behind her. He tried to remember the day they chose it. They were in Venice, it was hand crafted by a little old man. Addie had actually been the one to stumble across the shop. The vines and roots carved in it weren’t really his taste, but there was something unearthly beautiful about it that he could get behind. But the was Pepper looked at it, how she traced it with her he happily bought it. Anything for her.

“They were killed. Barnes killed them and Steve knew. Steve knew and hid it from me for who knows how long.”

The hand on his cheek gently directed him to look at her. Her eyes were glassy with tears as her thumb brushed away a tear that slid down his cheek. “Tony…” Her voice was barely a whisper as her own tears build in her eyes.

Of anyone in his life, she understood. He didn’t speak often about his feelings, but he shared things with her, and she listened. She knew he loved his mother deeply and his relationship with his father was complicated. Losing his parents left him alone, completely alone. It was screwed him up for a long time. 

But she stayed with him. She raised Addie with him. She raised Addie even when he had pushed her far past her limit. 

Yet here she was, in their bed. Undoubtedly because she didn’t expect him to be home, but she was in their bed none the less. Suddenly inside of his switched. The pain and angst flipped in his stomach to a need, a need that Pepper could fill. 

Suddenly her eyes got wide as she dipped her head a bit. If there was more light he knew there would be a pink blush across her cheeks. 

“I want you back, Pepper,” he stated. The waver in his voice gone. Instead he sounded firm, confident, as there was nothing in the world he was more sure of. “I want you to come home. To be home with me.”

Her hands dropped away from his face and flexed against the duvet. “Oh Tony…”

He confidence wavered but he still held strong. “I love you, Pep. I need you. Addie needs you.” Forgetting out the physical shape his body was in, he crawled closer to her, placing his hand on her cheek like she had done to him earlier. In the darkness he searched her tear filled eyes. “I love you, Pepper. Give me this chance to do right by you.”

Gently pulling her closer, his lips met hers in a kiss, which much to his surprise, she kissed back. Her arms went around his shoulders and she clung to him, kissing him like she had been drowning. 

Turns out, they both needed this.

/0/0/0/

Addie Stark had told her mother (well Pepper, which was like her Aunt May which is basically her mother) that he was her boyfriend. Of course, at the time it was probably to just coverup the fact they were alone together in the apartment and to save their secret identities.

Yes, that made sense. Peter nodded to himself as he sat in alone in his room at his computer desk. 

That made perfect sense. Addie didn’t really want Peter to be her boyfriend. They just needed an excuse to know each other and be hanging out. Of course, she could have just said friend. 

That had him pausing for a moment, the pencil he was absently tapping along the side of the desk stopped as he brought it up to his mouth. He placed it between his upper lip and his nose, holding it there as his mind continue to through this mystery.

Then. The next day. She kissed him. On the mouth. Not the corner of the mouth. Which she has done before, he may add, but directly on the lips. And she didn’t have to. No one was looking, except for the AI who was rather nosey and mouthy. 

The pencil dropped to the floor as he leaned forward on the desk and touched his mouth where her lips touched his. 

Why was this so confusing? Why were girls so confusing? 

Addison Stark was not just a girl. She was worldly. She been places, done things, that most people could never imagine doing in their lifetime. 

And she was so far out of his league that he had no idea why she would even pretend to date him. 

Letting out a deep sigh his head hit the wooden desk with a thud but popped right back up at the sound of May calling him.

“Pete? You have a visitor.”

Furrowing his brow, he pushed himself away from the desk. It was nine on a Saturday morning. Ned was still sleeping and he didn’t have any one other than that would be visiting so surely it was a mistake.

As he opening his bedroom door in just his pajama bottoms and Iron Man t-shirt he felt his face turn the color rivalling a tomato at the right of Addie Stark. Of course, she looked like she just walked out of some fashion magazine. Nothing flashy just well put together, comfortable, but stylish. The moment she saw him a Cheshire grin broke out on her lips.

“Sorry, Peter, I tried to call.” She at least the decency to look truly apologetic as she twisted a piece of he honey colored hair between her fingers and her brown eyes sparkled.

He caught a glimpse of May snickering at him as he self consciously stood in his doorway. “I’m-uh-gunna change real quick then I’ll be back, kay?”

Slamming his door shut behind him he let all the air he had been holding out of lungs. He could hear the laughter in May’s voice as she half-heartedly apologized for him and he dove through his drawers for something that was at least mostly clean. 

It took him a couple minutes, but after finding a new t-shirt with minimal wrinkles and a fresh pair of jeans he was ready. He also may have applied deodorant like three times, but he tended to get really sweaty around Addie and he wasn’t exactly sure why. Still, he wasn’t going to look nearly as good as she did, but he wasn’t wearing pajamas anymore. 

Opening the door again, probably much too quickly, he found Addie sitting at the table with May. He caught the way her dark brown eyes flickered over him, assessing him as he reentered the room. By the slight curve of her lips she appreciated what she saw, which only made him blush even deeper. 

“I was just telling your aunt that I was hoping I could steal you today and possibly part of tomorrow. Dad and I need some help at SI and we thought you would be perfect for the project. I’m just not sure how long it will take.” Her gaze turned apologetic as she glanced between May and Peter. “I know we just got back from the trip and already offering another project that could take up your weekend. Of course we have a place for you to stay-“

“I’d be happy to!” May raised her brows, but her smile never faltered. It was clear she saw there was more than just his interest in Stark Industries that had him eager to get going on this project. “As, uh, as long as you’re cool with it, May?” 

“Well, Addison said that you’ll be working in the Avenger Compound, upstate, which is about two hours away?” she looked at Addie to confirm these details, who nodded in response. “I don’t have a problem with it, but you call me when you get there and when you plan on coming home tomorrow.”

Of course, he knew the story Addison told May was a lie (which it still scared him how great of a liar she was), but he did not expect for Addie to have a complete lay out of a plan for him. 

They were not, in fact, going to the compound. They were staying at the tower, which he had to climb to get into because no one knew he was staying there either. 

The moment she opened her window she pulled him inside. 

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered as he collapsed on her floor. Immediately she offered him water and a protein bar as she pulled her Starkpad off her desk. “I’m sorry you couldn’t use the elevator but I didn’t expect Dad and Pepper to get back together literally overnight.”

Peter’s eyes widened as he choked on his sip of water. Addie nodded as she puffed a strand of her honey colored hair away from her face. “Yeah. Let me tell you, that was one hell of an awkward conversation after I walked in on them just trying to ask Pepper for some ibuprofen in the middle of the night. I didn’t even know Dad was home.” She shivered and tapped a few things on the Starkpad as she took a breath. “Anyway, Dad is in there somewhere, and well, while Pepper knows my boyfriend is Peter Parker, she doesn’t know Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but Dad does.”

This time Peter was choking on the protein bar, coughing and hacking as Addie eyed him with concern and confusion. “Have you forgotten how to chew?” she deadpanned causing his ears to tinge pink as he mumbled an apology. 

She offered him a smile before continuing. “Anyway, something happened between my dad and Cap in some secret base in Siberia.” Her small hands tapped through encrypted files, a holographic keyboard that she seemed to work flawlessly on. Per usual, Addie was nothing if not impressive to him. 

Finally, a video popped up. A video of a video actually. Peter leaned in and watched as old black and white footage showed a car crash then a man appeared. A familiar man. Taking it upon himself, Peter zoomed in on the stark pad. “Is that the metal arm guy?”

Addie nodded, grabbing his wrist to take a bite of his protein bar. “James Buchanan Barnes.” She attempted to swallow the protein bar only to also get a bit choked. “Damn these things are chewy… Barnes, “Bucky” according to Cap, is what started all this mess if you don’t keep up with the news.” 

There was no judgement in her voice. They were teens and until a few days ago he had no need to watch anything that was happening outside of New York unless he was just interested. 

With a shrug, Peter bounced his head back and forth. “Vaguely. Honestly not much.”

Addie nodded solemnly as she paused the video. “The people he killed, those were my grandparents.”

Peter tensed as a shiver ran up his spine. His eyes shifted to Addie but her eyes were still on the screen, it paused on the final frame. Though her face was as brave and stoic as it typically was when they spoke about serious matter, he saw something in her expression that reminded him of how she looked the night Ben was shot. As well as she held herself together, she was scared and upset. 

Without thinking, his hand slid over her shoulder giving it a slight squeeze. It seemed to break the spell as she glanced up at him and placed her hand over his, offering him a small smile. 

“It’s alright. I never knew them. I just know it has always been hard on my dad.” With another shrug she released he hand and continued the video, zooming it out for it to reveal a bunker setting. Steve Rodgers and Bucky Barnes present. There was no audio. As if reading his mind she looked a bit sheepish. “It took me eighteen hours to decrypt the video file, I haven’t gotten audio up. However, I don’t think I need it after seeing the this.”

They watched as all hell broke loose. The two against one fight was far from fair fight but Tony Stark held his own. It was clear, even without audio, there was a lot of emotions in this fight. But when Steve had Tony down, shield raised above his head and ready to come down on him, Peter flinched. It felt like it was going to be a blow to the head, but it went for the chest instead. It was two blows and the feed died. 

Rage and betrayal filled Peter. Steve Rodgers was supposed to be a good guy but that didn’t feel like a good guy. Good guys didn’t defend murderers. Good guys don’t nearly kill their friends. 

“Peter?”

He glanced down to see his hand squeezing her shoulder much too tightly and immediately released her. “Sorry! Sorry…”

It didn’t seem to faze her too much as she smiled at him again, taking his hand in hers. “It’s alright. Really.” Her thumb ran over his knuckles before she released his hand again. “I’ve had time to process this while this is the first time you’ve seen this. Dad still looks like shit. But nothing life threatening.”

His hand tingled, immediately missing the feeling of hers. “So, what are you wanting to do with this information?” As much as he tried, he struggled to keep his voice level. “Are you wanting to go after Captain America or something?”

She turned in her chair to face him directly. “Actually, the opposite. Someone did all of this to tear the Avengers apart and it makes our defenses weak. Imagine another attack on New York with the current Avengers we have now.”

Peter remembered the alien attack too well, anyone who lived in New York would. May held him in the bathroom of their apartment building. Ben had been at work and all they could do was hope that he was somewhere safe when they knew in all honesty no one was no matter where they were. 

She was right though. They had Vision, Iron Man, Black Widow, and that cat guy. That was not a lot. Well, then again, technically Addie and he were superheroes. Teenage superheroes but they did fight the Avengers and not die. Surely that meant something. Maybe not a whole lot but something. 

“So, what, you want to…?” He looked at her for an answer. 

She looked at him. Her brown eyes hard and stubborn as her chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “I to fix what Secretary Ross broke. We’re going to first repair the relationship between the Avenger and then amend the Slovakian Accords.”

Peter stared at her for a long moment before he dropped down onto her bed. “Okay. And how are we going to do that?”

At that, a big smile spread across her face. “I’m glad you asked.”

Ten hours later they were laying on their back on her bed. She had found her previous model Starkpad under her bed and passed it on to him to use. At the moment, Steve Rodger and Bucky Barnes were the only two of “Team Cap”, as the media was calling them, that weren’t in Rikers. Anyone who knew Steve knew he was a no man left behind sort of man. 

Her plan was to deploy a stealth drone and track them to their next location. Without their equipment and a stealth drone the size of a baseball would be hard for them to notice. The battery life was fourteen days, enough time for her to try and track them through area surveillance. 

It was hacking into Tony Stark’s files to figure where the hell Riker’s was to deploy the drone that took so damn long in the first place. Everything was encrypted to hell and back. Peter was next to no help, but Addie didn’t seem to mind as she pieced together small bits at a time.

“I might be starving,” she stated, dropping her Starkpad on the bed before dragging her hands down her face. “My stomach is actually eating itself.”

Peter groaned and nodded. They were out of protein bars. Their enhanced metabolisms doing them no favors after not eating a proper meal for over twelve hours. She rolled over on her side to face Peter. He could feel her studying him, her soft eyes rolling over him as a smile curled on her lips.

Butterflies filled his stomach as he dared to roll to his side and face her completely. Those questions. Did she mean what she said about the boyfriend thing? Did she actually care about him in that way?

Taking a breath, he diverted his eyes for just a moment before focusing in on her again. She seemed completely at ease under his gaze, the shimmer of her brown eyes looking like pools of dark honey against the dimmed light above them. It was nearly the evening and she still looked perfect somehow.

Mustering up the courage he released all the air he had in his lungs and tried just dove in. “I, uh, really like spending time with you,” Peter stated, his words feeling awkward. 

However awkward they may have felt, Addie still smiled brilliantly at him. “I like spending time with you too, Peter. What are girlfriends for?”

That last bit was in a teasing way that Peter felt his face fall. Immediately the smile was gone from Addie’s face as she realized what she done. “Oh, Peter, no- no- no. It’s not that.”

But Peter had already sat up. The tips of his ear bright red as he felt horrifically embarrassed. Of course. Why would Addie feel anything toward some nobody like him? She just spent the day proving how brilliant she was and he could barely keep up with her. That was without the fact she was the heir to a multibillion dollar company and he lived in a small apartment in Queens.

“Peter, please, listen,” Addie begged, her hand landing on his shoulder trying to get him to look at her. 

He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t. He didn’t trust his voice and it wasn’t like he could go anywhere. 

“Peter.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper as her hand touched his cheek, gently turning his face to look at her. Her eyes were glassy as she examined his features before moving her face toward his.

The moment her mouth touched his he realized this was not like any kiss he’d ever had before. He could feel it throughout his entire body as her lips moved over his, then her tongue slid into his mouth slightly and he thought for sure he was going to melt right then and there. 

His hands grabbed her hips and pulled her closer until they were chest to chest, Addie pushing him back on the bed as she put one knee over him to get better leverage. 

Peter Parker had never made out with anyone, he had never really kissed a girl either, but he was pretty sure this was what it was supposed to be like. Every part of him felt drunk on her. Like he could live on her kisses forever.

And he might have, if the door didn’t slide open.

“FRIDAY tells me there is a boy- Underoos?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being a bit more Peter/Addie focused than I've meant it to be, but Peter's adorable anxiety ridden self is a bit more fun to write than I expected. Please leave a comment and let me know what you all think.


End file.
